Various medical procedures result in the placement of flexible tubes within the body. While the distal end of such tubes remains implanted within the body, the proximal end extends outside of the body and must be retained.
For example, a gastrostomy (i.e., percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, surgically placed gastrostomy tube, or laparoscopically placed gastrostomy tube) is performed in order to place a gastrostomy or “feeding” tube into a patient's stomach. The patient is fed directly through the feeding tube via the proximal end of the tube, which extends from the patient's body through a stoma site. This procedure is used for long-term feeding and to retain digestive functions of patients suffering from neurological disease, brain injury, or tumors and/or injuries of the head, neck, or esophagus, who thus have swallowing difficulties but otherwise have functioning gastrointestinal tracts.
Another type of medical tube placed within the body are drainage catheters, which are used in interventional radiology to drain fluids from an organ or body cavity. The proximal end of the catheter extends out of the body and typically has a plastic hub, which is attached and secured to the patient.
The proximal ends of tubes such as gastrostomy tubes and drainage catheters must be retained in a fixed position outside of the body to avoid movement into or out of the body and to provide support for feeding procedures and external manipulation. Furthermore, the ends must be closed to prevent the leakage of body fluids from these tubes. Conventional retention systems use multiple components and are cumbersome to use due to inefficient ergonomics. Moreover, conventional retention systems often do not provide sufficient retention strength.